Hungry Hyenas Harass a Pair of Cheetahs For Their Lunch, Only For a Lion to Come Clean Up

Hyenas Get a Taste of Their Own Medicine After Stealing a Meal from Cheetahs

In the exhilarating video at the top of the page, a few hyped up hyenas get put in their place! The video begins with a lone hyena attempting to bully two cheetahs away from freshly caught prey. As the hyena lunges, the cheetahs react swiftly, one still chomping onto its prey. The hyena being chased turns for a second, but the cheetah can’t risk a fight and injury. The cheetah circles back towards the prey, and a few other hyenas join in, tilting the standoff in their favor.

Once the third hyena is on the scene, the cheetahs realize there’s no chance to keep their kill. Tucking their legs beneath their tails, the cheetahs put up a quick defense before turning to run. The hyenas, successfully bullying the cheetahs into doing their work, hop onto their prize. The two hyenas begin dragging the carcass away from the scene of the robbery. Before they get far, a ‘bigger fish’ arrives.

As the hyenas prove their dominance over the cheetahs, the lone male lion arrives to cut down their confidence. It’s a brilliant display of the lion’s sheer confidence, and the result shows he was right. In the lion’s mind, there’s no doubt he deserves to lay claim to this meal, and the result shows he was right. The videographer has a short chuckle, noting how the food chain always has another stage above what seems to be the top.

How Often Do Cheetah Get Their Meals Stolen?

In the heart of the African savannah, swift and agile cheetahs perpetually struggle for their hard-earned meals. Its not unusual for them to find themselves in this challenging predicament. The coveted spoils of a successful hunt can become the target of cunning hyenas, powerful lions, and various other opportunistic predators, in just a heartbeat. There are always the perpetual scavengers on the prowl. Hyenas, who transition seamlessly between hunting and scavenging, emerge as notorious meal thieves. Their iconic laughter echoes through the grasslands as they brazenly rip off cheetahs’ catches.

Lions, unlike hyenas, will only occasionally supplement their hunting prowess with scavenging. The male lion stealing a meal in the video at the top of the page is a rare occurrence, a behavior more common with nomadic male lions with no pride to call their own. Beyond marquee predators like lions and hyenas, other savannah inhabitants, such as crafty jackals and opportunistic vultures, heavily lean towards scavenging. They capitalize on the misfortunes of others, choosing to snatch morsels from larger predators or clean up their abandoned carcasses. 

In contrast, smaller predators such as nimble savannah cats and elusive mongooses rely on their hunting prowess to feed themselves, rarely ever scavenging food. All of these predators balance this trade off to navigate the intricate dance of survival on the vast African plains.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © mit4711/iStock via Getty Images